Cantilever storage rack



March 5, 1968 T. N. DALTRUI 3,371,798

CANTILEVER STORAGE RACK Filed July l1. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2 V /6Y V/5 V '-/6 /NVENTOR BVI N. D 'ALTRU/ m ff. M

ATTQR/VEV Y March 5, 1968 T. N. D'ALTRUI 3,371,798

CANTILEVER STORAGE RACK v Filed July ll. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l summumUnited States Patent O 3,371,798 CANTILEVER STDRAGE RACK Thomas N.DAltru, Union, NJ., assignor to Midland Machine Company, Elizabeth, NJ.,a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 11, 1966, Ser. No..564,073 3Claims. (Cl. 211-182) This invention relates to storage racks having acantilever construction.

Cantilever storage racks are racks having substantially horizontalload-bearing beams that are supported at only one end. These racks areparticularly suitable for storage of cumbersome industrial products suchas sheet steel, pipe and lumber. The user typically adjusts the spacingsof the beams to his liking on vertical posts and stacks elongatedmaterial on two or more beams with a fork lift. It is evident that goodcantilever racks require devices for mounting the beams to the verticalposts that are structurally strong and dependable and also easilyadjusted to any desired vertical height.

When the user is attempting to move his load to or from a pair ofstorage rack beams with a fork lift, there is a substantial danger ofbumping the beams above his load. Users tend to make inadequateestimates of the vertical spaciugs required between beams, and also, thefork lift usually impairs their vision.

Accordingly, the objectives of this invention are as follows:

To provide cantilever storage racks having load-supporting beams thatcan be easily relocated on a vertical post, while still beingstructurally strong and dependable.

To provide cantilevered load-supporting beams capable of absorbing sharpupward blows of the type caused by accidental operation of a fork lift.

These and other objects of the invention are attained in an illustrativeembodiment thereof comprising a cantilever storage rack having a numberof vertical posts. Each post is hollow with a square cross-section,opposite side walls having vertically aligned apertures. Beams aresupported on the post by brackets bolted on opposite sides of the post.Each bracket has a support wall forming a right angle with aload-supporting surface on which the beam rests. The beams and bracketsare arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the post with the free endsof the beams of each pair being bolted together.

The supported ends of the beams of each pair are bolted together by asingle bolt extending through the corresponding pair of bracket baseplates and the vertical post. The support walls of the brackets bearagainst a front surface of the vertical post to maintain the beams in ahorizontal position and to provide a dependable load support. As will beseen more clearly later, my bracket and beam combination is easilyrelocated because only a single bolt need be moved, and yet it gives thesupport required by extremely heavy loads.

The` bolted ends of the beams extend beyond the loadsupporting surfacesof the brackets. If the beams are accidently struck from below they arefree to pivot on the single bolt without bearing on the bracketload-supporting surface or the vertical post. This obviously avoidsbreakage of the rack structure and can avoid serious injury tosurrounding personnel because when the accidential upward force isremoved, the beams and their load simply settle back onto the bracketload-supporting surface rather than collapsing.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of my invention willbe better understood from a consideration of the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cantilever storage rack in 3,371,798 PatentedMar. 5, 1968 ICC accordance with an illustrative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bracket of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the bracket of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of part of the storage rackof FIG. l.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a cantilever storage rackin accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the inventioncomprising vertical posts 11 on which are mounted beams 12 which aresupported by brackets 13. As shown in FIG. 2 the brackets and beams arearranged in pairs on opposite side walls 15 and 16 of the post. Eachpair of beams and brackets is mounted by a single bolt 17 that extendsthrough the vertical post 11. Apertures 18 are arranged vertically inside walls 15 and 16 of the post so that the beams can be adjusted tovarious vertical heights and can be extended in a horizontal directionopposite that shown. The free ends ofthe beams 12 of each pair arefastened together by bolts 19. The purpose of the rack is to storeelongated materials such as pipe and lumber that are supported byadjacent pairs of cantilever beams.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, each bracket comprises a base plate 20,a pair of load-bearing walls 21 and 22, on opposite sides of the baseplate, and a pair of support walls 23 and 24 each of which forms an Lwith one of the load-supporting walls. An aperture 25 in the base plateis adapted to receive the bolt 17 of FIG. 2. When mounted on side walls15 of the vertical post the bracket support wall 24 bears on a frontwall 26 of the post, while load-bearing wall 21 supports the cantileverbeam. The front of the bracket is made symmetrical as shown in FIG. 4,so that it can be mounted on either side wall of any of the posts. Forexample, if the bracket of FIG. 4 were mounted on the opposite side wall16 of the post, support wall 23 would bear on the front post wall andload-bearing wall 22 would support the beam, as is seen more clearly inFIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 5, an important feature of the invention is that bolt17 is located behind the bracket loadbearing wall 21. This permits beam12 to pivot upwardly in response to a sharp upward force as illustratedby the beam position 12'. lf the load-bearing wall extended backwardlyas far as bolt 17, it would interfere with rotation of the beam andprobably break if the beam were accidently struck from below.

Examination of the bracket of FIG.. 5 illustrates its capacity to bear aheavy load. The load-bearing walls 21 and 22 are sufficiently reinforcedto prevent downward bending. The bolt 17 is arranged so that it wouldnecessarily shear, rather than pull out, if subjected to over-load. Anextremely high torque would be required to bend the support walls 23 and24 that bear on the vertical post. Hence, if the beams and brackets aremade of the same size stock, it would usually be the beams, rather thanthe brackets, that would limit load weight. Yet, the entire assembly ofeach pair of brackets and beams can be conveniently relocated by movingonly a single common bolt. The brackets of course are completelyinterchangeable. As mentioned before, the pivoting feature illustratedin FIG. 5 removes most of the danger of loading the cantilever storagerack with a fork lift. If a fork lift is used to place a load on thelower beams 12 of FIG. l, and the upper beams are accidently struck,they will simply pivot upwardly, rather than breaking and collapsingwith their entire load.

The embodiment shown is intended to be merely illustrative of theprinciples of the invention. Indeed, one of the advantages of theinvention is its flexibility in permitting cantilever racks of variousconfigurations to be formed from any of a number of vertical posts andbeams. Various other modilications and embodiments may be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A storage rack comprising:

a plurality of vertical posts each having rst and second abutting Wallsat right angles;

a plurality of vertically arranged first apertures in the post secondwall;

a bracket mounted on each post comprising a base plate part of which ismounted ush against the post second wall and part of which extends fromthe post second wall beyond the rst wall;

the bracket further including a rst support wall extending transverselyfrom one side of the base and being Hush with the post first wall, and afirst loadbearing wall extending transversely from the base plate atsubstantially a right angle with respect to the first support wall;

a cantilever beam resting on the first load-bearing wall and having asecond aperture near one end;

the bracket base plate having a third aperture;

and a bolt extending through one of the first apertures, the secondaperture and the third aperture, whereby the cantilever beam issupported in a horizontal position by the bolt and the rst load-bearingwall, and the bracket is supported by the bolt and the post first wallwhich bears against the first support wall of the bracket;

the boltbeing located farther from the post rst wall than any part ofthe rst load-bearing wall, whereby the cantilever beam is free to pivotabout the bolt if an upward force is exerted thereon.

A2,. The storage rack of claim 1 wherein:

each vertical post includes a post third wall abutting at right anglesto the post first wall and being parallel to and coextensive with thepost second wall; the post third wall includes vertically aligned third5 apertures;

each bracket includes a second support wall coextensive with the firstsupport wall but on the opposite side of the base plate and a secondload-bearing wall coextensive with the tirst load-bearing wall but onthe opposite side of the base plate, whereby each bracket is adapted tobe bolted to either the post second or third walls. 3. The storage rackof claim 2 wherein: the brackets and cantilever beams are mounted inaligned pairs, one bracket of each pair being secured to the post secondwall and the other bracket being secured to the post third wall; eachpair of brackets and beams are secured to the post by only a single boltextending therethrough; 20 the free ends of the cantilever beams of eachpair are bolted together; and each bracket and beam pair is mounted atthe same vertical height as the bracket and beam pairs of an adjacentvertical post.

25 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,478 9/1923 Keffer248-245 XR 3,043,290 7/1962 Smith 248--245 XR 3() 3,335,992 8/1967Frazier 248-245 FOREIGN PATENTS 588,686 5/1947 Great Britain.

y ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A STORAGE RACK COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL POSTS EACH HAVINGFIRST AND SECOND ABUTTING WALL AT RIGHT ANGLES; A PLURALITY OFVERTICALLY ARRANGED FIRST APERTURES IN THE POST SECOND WALL; A BRACKETMOUNTED ON EACH POST COMPRISING A BASE PLATE PART OF WHICH IS MOUNTEDFLUSH AGAINST THE POST SECOND WALL AND PART OF WHICH EXTENDS FROM THEPOST SECOND WALL BEYOND THE FIRST WALL; THE BRACKET FURTHER INCLUDING AFIRST SUPPORT WALL EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY FROM ONE SIDE OF THE BASE ANDBEING FLUSH WITH THE POST FIRST WALL, AND A FIRST LOADBEARING WALLEXTENDING TRANSVERSELY FROM THE BASE PLATE AT SUBSTANTIALLY A RIGHTANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE FIRST SUPPORT WALL; A CANTILEVER BEAM RESTINGON THE FIRST LOAD-BEARING WALL AND HAVING A SECOND APERTURE NEAR ONEEND; THE BRACKET BASE PLATE HAVING A THIRD APERTURE; AND A BOLTEXTENDING THROUGH ONE OF THE FIRST APERTURES, THE SECOND APERTURE ANDTHE THIRD APERTURE, WHEREBY THE CANTILEVER BEAM IS SUPPORTED IN AHORIZONTAL POSITION BY THE BOLT AND THE FIRST LOAD-BEARING WALL, AND THEBRACKET IS SUPPORTED BY THE BOLT AND THE POST FIRST WALL WHICH BEARSAGAINST THE FIRST SUPPORT WALL OF THE BRACKETS; THE BOLT BEING LOCATEDFARTHER FROM THE POST FIRST WALL THAN ANY PART OF THE FIRST LOAD-BEARINGWALL, WHEREBY THE CANTILEVER BEAM IS FREE TO PIVOT ABOUT THE BOLT IF ANUPWARD FORCE IS EXERTED THEREON.